Four thoughts from the first two rounds of the 2013 MLB Draft Thursday night in the MLB Network studio in Secaucus, N.J.

1. Houston Astros shift gears

MLB Draft 2013: Clint Frazier was selected with the fifth overall pick by the Cleveland Indians. (Photo by Phil Skinner/AJC)

The Astros are in the middle of what is arguably the most extensive rebuilding process of baseball’s modern era—the 1899-1900 Cleveland Spiders stake a claim to the early era—and they took a giant step toward actual playoff competition Thursday.

Since Jeff Luhnow took over as the Houston general manager, his goal has been to rebuild, with both quantity and quality, a farm system that was pretty awful when he arrived. The selection of Stanford righthander Mark Appel with the No. 1 overall pick on Thursday—the Astros passed on Appel last year, even though he was the consensus No. 1 player in the 2012 draft, too—marks a shift in priority toward quality over quantity.

“For us, we felt like it was the best move to make this year,” Luhnow said during his MLB Network interview. “Last year was a different circumstance.”

It’s an excellent strategy shift, especially considering the draft bonus restrictions that were put into place before the 2012 draft. Last year, instead of taking Appel and his expected monetary demands, the Astros went with shortstop Carlos Correa with the top pick. He signed for $4.8 million, which gave Houston an extra $2.4 million in bonus money to spread around. That allowed them to select—and sign for overslot money—Lance McCullers, Jr., in the supplemental first round and Rio Ruiz in the fourth round.

With Appel, the Astros took a polished college starter, a guy who will be ready to contribute to the big-league team soon. The fact that this pick comes on the heels of what is easily the best stretch of baseball that big league team has played the past couple of years—the Astros have won seven of their past 10 games—is more of a reason for Houston fans to get excited.

The Astros weren’t the only team to pass on Appel last year. He wound up going eighth overall to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the two sides never agreed on terms, which is why Appel was draft-eligible again this season.

Shortly after going first overall, Appel, who is from Houston, took to Twitter to show he was ready to join the Houston organization, saying, “I'm coming home, I'm coming home! Tell the world, I'm coming home! #GodIsGreat #Astros”

2. The “reach”

The Kansas City Royals provided the first head-scratcher of the 2013 draft when they took Hunter Dozier, a shortstop out of Stephen F. Austin, with the No. 8 pick in the opening round. Dozier was in the 40-something range on most draft boards, largely because most scouts expect he’ll eventually move to third base—considered less of a “premium” position—because of his 6-foot-4, 220-pound frame.

The Royals will be able to sign Dozier for much less than the $3 million allotted for that pick, which would afford them a little bit of flexibility to potentially draft and sign a player who might slip because of concerns—signability or health issues—if such a thing were to happen. It did, when Sean Manaea slipped to their pick at 34th overall (the first pick of the new competitive balance round; more on that below). Manaea, a lefty from Indiana State, was considered an elite talent, but injury issues have hurt his draft stock.

The theory is interesting, and not without risk. The Astros used it well last year, though they had significantly more money to work with, which is a big deal. The Royals might not have enough money to convince Manaea to sign; he has another year of eligibility at Indiana State and could opt to return and prepare for next year’s draft. If he would prove he’s healthy, he’s a potential top-five pick in the 2014 draft.

3. Speaking of “competitive balance” …

There was an addition to this year’s draft, as negotiated as part of the new collective bargaining agreement. The 10 clubs with the lowest revenues and 10 clubs in the smallest markets were eligible for this lottery, which produced a dozen additional picks—six directly after the first round and six after the second round. (Although there were just 11 in this draft as the Cleveland Indians lost their competitive balance pick after the second round for signing Michael Bourn.)

This lottery was held last July. Of the 14 teams eligible to gain an extra pick—there was overlap on the two lists—only the Tampa Bay Rays and St. Louis Cardinals were not awarded another selection. It’s ironic that these two franchises have elite farm systems in the game—the Cardinals are No. 1 in the Baseball America rankings and the Rays are No. 4.

The competitive balance picks can be traded, and three were dealt before the draft. The Miami Marlins picked up the Pirates’ selection (35th overall) as part of last summer’s Gaby Sanchez trade, and the Marlins and Detroit Tigers swapped their picks (Marlins had No. 39 and Tigers had No. 73) as part of the Anibal Sanchez trade.

4. Smile for the cameras

Nine potential first-round picks accepted the invitation to travel and watch the draft unfold in person, at the MLB Network studio in Secaucus, N.J., not that far away from New York City.

The network did an excellent job not focusing on these players, though, knowing that most of the group in Studio 42 were expected to be selected mid to late in the first round. This isn’t like the NFL or NBA draft, when all of the big names are on hand. At some point, maybe that happens, but it’s not here yet. In 2009, the first year MLB Network televised the draft, only one player—Mike Trout—showed up.

So, nine is an improvement.

“It’s a big deal,” said Robert Kevin Clark, who was Billy McKinney’s head coach at Plano West High in Texas. “Regardless of where he gets drafted, it’s a great accomplishment, to get to go to New York and be on that stage and be one of those guys. He’s real excited. For an 18-year-old kid, that’s pretty exciting stuff.”

McKinney went 24th overall to the Oakland A’s.

Clint Frazier, the No. 5 pick by the Indians, was the first player in the studio to be drafted. After that, it was Dominic Smith (No. 11, New York Mets), J.P. Crawford (No. 16, Philadelphia Phillies), Tim Anderson (No. 17, Chicago White Sox), Nick Ciuffo (No. 21, Rays), Aaron Judge (No. 32, New York Yankees), Ian Clarkin (No. 33, Yankees) and Jon Denney (was not selected in first 73 picks).